IT'S OFFICIAL: Goldman Sachs names David Solomon as its next CEO

July 17,2018 17:24

"David is the right person to lead Goldman Sachs," Blankfein said in the firm's statement. "He has demonstrated a proven ability to build and grow businesses, identified creative ways to enhance our culture, and has put clients at the center of our ...

Goldman Sachs: David Solomon will replace Lloyd Blankfein as CEO - Business Insider

The incoming Goldman Sachs CEO, David Solomon.Goldman Sachs

David Solomon will succeed Lloyd Blankfein as Goldman Sachs' new CEO, the firm said Tuesday.Solomon plans to officially take the reins from Blankfein, the longest-serving Wall Street CEO after JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon, in October. He'll also join the board.Blankfein will serve as chairman through the end of year, and Solomon will add the title in January. Blankfein will become senior chairman when he retires.

David Solomon is now officially in line to succeed Lloyd Blankfein as CEO of Goldman Sachs. The Wall Street firm made the announcement Tuesday, saying Solomon would become CEO and join the board on October 1.Solomon's ascension to CEO was widely expected after he was named in March as the sole president of Goldman, following the departure of his copresident Harvey Schwartz. With the formal announcement, Solomon can begin making changes to his leadership team.Blankfein will remain chairman through the end of the year and then take the title of senior chairman after his retirement, the firm said."David is the right person to lead Goldman Sachs," Blankfein said in the firm's statement. "He has demonstrated a proven ability to build and grow businesses, identified creative ways to enhance our culture, and has put clients at the center of our strategy."[See also:A throwaway comment in a conversation with Richard Branson hints at the future of Goldman Sachs]Blankfein, who once joked that he would die at his desk, was the longest-serving Wall Street CEO after JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon. Taking the reins of Goldman in 2006, Blankfein, a former gold salesman, navigated the firm through the financial crisis and the subsequent fallout in which the firm was demonized and called the "vampire squid" of finance.He later helped improve Goldman's public image, serving as an elder statesman of sorts for the industry. Under Blankfein, Goldman has expanded away from its roots as a pure investment bank and into new areas such as its consumer-banking business, Marcus.Raised in a housing project in Brooklyn's East New York neighborhood, he attended Harvard College and Harvard Law School through financial aid.Solomon cut his teeth as a banker at Bear Stearns before joining Goldman as a partner in 1999. He ran the bank's leveraged-finance unit and rose up the ranks of the investment-banking business with a reputation for being Goldman's point man on many key client relationships, including those with 3M, Disney's Bob Iger, and the casino mogul Sheldon Adelson.He's also known for his work to address gender imbalance within Goldman's workforce and for spearheading a task force meant to retain junior bankers.Solomon is also known for his unorthodox hobby: production of electronic dance music. Solomon, known as DJ D-Sol, recently released his first track, a dance remix of Fleetwood Mac's 1977 hit "Don't Stop."See also: